July 2, 2018

Artificial intelligence is shaping gender relations across the world, including in developing countries, creating new challenges and opportunities for women.

For their personal development and professional growth to be fully integrated, women need to be involved in the design, implementation, evaluation and debate on ethics and norms of the next generation of machine learning and AI technologies.

Recommendations

Policymakers have a role in ensuring that new AI-powered technologies work for, rather than against, women’s empowerment and gender equity. This policy brief provides recommendations for how to ensure women are included in the design of AI technologies and algorithms.

Take proactive steps towards the inclusion of women in the coding and the design of machine learning and AI technologies

Implement industry guidelines to protect women from discriminatory algorithms and embrace openness and transparency for AI

Assess the economic, political and social effects of AI and machine learning technologies on the lives of women

The AI world today is almost entirely dominated by men. Without the meaningful inclusion of women at all stages of the development and implementation of these policies and technologies, we will fail to make digital equality a reality. We need men to be allies and to proactively act to make AI better for all.

Read the full brief to explore these recommendations in full and find out more about the challenges of AI and gender.

We published this report as part of our role as co-chair of the Digital Inclusion track of the Women 20 (W20) group.